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Ricky Rubio at Caja Laboral (5/5 to 3) - 20-03-2010 :
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very goodOriginally posted by ip84 View PostRicky Rubio at Caja Laboral (5/5 to 3) - 20-03-2010 :
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Nice one
BARÇA O MUERTEComment
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Messina says a very interesting things especially at the end.
And btw, excellent game yesterday against Unicaja. He killed Omar Cook, had a lot of baskets and a foul, and did his "regular stuff".Last edited by ip84; 04-25-2010, 08:45 AM.Comment
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Rubio starting to live up to noise surrounding his hype
If you thought TD Garden was loud Sunday, as the Celtics rode an historic performance from Rajon Rondo to tie up their best-of-seven Eastern semifinal with Cleveland, you should have heard the noise coming from the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, site of the Euroleague Final Four.
Or, more accurately, you should have tried to hear Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn on the phone.
"I can't hear you," Kahn said, and that was appropriate, because it was impossible to hear him, too -- and that was during the third-place game between CSKA Moscow and Partizan Belgrade.
Let's be honest: Other than a brief blip from Oklahoma City in the first round, and Milwaukee taking Atlanta to seven games, and the Cavs and C's taking turns dazzling ("It's probably gonna go seven games," Mo Williams said afterward), the playoffs have been underwhelming this year. Every once in a while, they've whelmed. Rondo overwhelmed Sunday, becomingy just the third player in NBA history to amass at least 29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists in a playoff game (the others were Oscar Robertson, with 32, 19 and 13 in 1963, and Wilt Chamberlain's 29, 36 and 13 effort in 1967).
So there's time to check in across the pond. That's where Kahn and execs from other wannabe playoff contenders were, checking out the talent at the European Final Four. Kahn, of course, was there to look in on the Timberwolves' future, 19-year-old Ricky Rubio, whose Regal FC Barcelona team won the championship Sunday over Olympiacos, 86-68, for its second Euroleague title. Former Grizzlies player Juan Carlos Navarro, with 21 points and five assists against Olympiacos, was named Final Four MVP; Rubio, who scored nine points, was the first player to cut down the nets.
"Barcelona will not sleep tonight," said the play-by-play guy on the TV feed, and Kahn may be sleeping easier these days as well. When Rubio chose to play in Barcelona for two seasons instead of coming to Minnesota (the team that picked him sixth overall in the 2009 Draft), Kahn got a lot of heat and a lot of people around the league expected the Wolves to eventually deal away their rights to him. But Kahn said Sunday that the plan to bring Rubio over after next season is still in place, and that the Wolves anticipate Rubio to be the beneficiary of two years of seasoning, two years of growing physically and two years of working on his jumper.
So while coach Kurt Rambis and the Wolves took some serious lumps this season, Rubio has been playing with veterans like Navarro, former NBA camper Pete Mickeal and Fran Vasquez, the Magic's 2005 first-round pick who has yet to come over to the States. Barcelona rolled through the European season, winning the ACB Super Cup in October and tore through the ACB League with a 30-3 first-place mark. In Friday's semifinal win over CSKA Moscow -- Mikhail Prokhorov's soon-to-be former team -- Rubio had 10 points and eight assists in 32 minutes.
"He makes plays one can't see," gushed a veteran NBA personnel man who was in attendance this weekend. "He knows how to play the point."
(Here, I will interrupt, because my guy then compared Rubio to both Steve Nash and Jason Kidd, and unless the young man is going to average a triple double for his whole career, that's too rich. OK. Back to the gushing.)
"He's shooting much better and has gotten stronger with the upper body," my guy says. "He's already won the Copa Del Rey. Now he (has) a Euro championship ... won this summer's European championship and has a silver medal from 2008 (at the Beijing Olympics) at the age of 19. You gotta love that record."
Kahn doesn't gush as much. Maybe it's because he knows how important Rubio's future success is both to the franchise and to his own employment down the road.
"Ricky had a good year, especially in the big games in Euroleague play Friday night included," Kahn said via text, once continuing the interview via phone proved hopeless. "Kurt told Ricky through me to work on his shot and it is obvious Ricky spent a lot of time on it this season. Nothing needed to be coordinated (with the Barcelona team); everybody knew that it was something that needed improving."
Rubio also had to weather the emotional pull of playing in his first Euro Final Four.
"The crowd is just a little different," said Cavaliers guard Anthony Parker, who led Maccabi Tel Aviv to Euroleague titles in 2004 and 2005 and was Final Four MVP in '04.
"They carry over that soccer mentality," Parker said. "You see flares in the stands and people beating drums and blowing trumpets, and they're doing chants and stuff. Maybe that's the only factor that's a little different. The pressure's still there. Everything else is still there. But because it's only one game, I liken it more to a college Final Four atmosphere than the NBA ... they hadn't won a Euroleague championship in like 20 years or something. We went from Israel, and the Final Four was in Paris, and we had like 10,000 Maccabi fans there, all wearing their yellow. It was just a great, great experience."
Rubio has a busy summer ahead. He goes almost immediately into the Spanish League playoffs, which will run through mid-June. That's followed by practice for the Spanish national team beginning in July, as Spain prepares for its defense of its FIBA world championship next August in Turkey. And nothing else has changed; Minnesota still expects Rubio no earlier than the summer of 2011, which is the first time he can opt out of his six-year contract with Barcelona.
"He will be all of 20 by then," Kahn texted.
Bringing Rubio over in '11 could also be a public relations salve that summer. There's a slim, slim chance the Wolves might not have their first-round pick in 2011; they owe the Clippers a first from the long-ago Marko Jaric deal, and 2011 is the last year the pick is top 10 protected. After that, L.A. gets the pick outright with no strings and no protections. Now, it's highly likely that Minnesota will retain that pick for '11, considering that the eight playoff teams in the West each won at least 50 games this season, and the Wolves won ...15.
At either rate, after another year's apprenticeship abroad, Rubio needs to start showing what all the fuss is about.Comment
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His ballhandling was exposed,he struggled bringing the ball up the court against Patrick Beverley..a pg with poor handles,shaky jumpshot,mediocre athleticism.His decision to stay in Europe was a wise one.Comment
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He struggled in that game. He's generally a pretty good ball handler.Originally posted by Jon_Koncak View PostComment
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ESP - Rubio Named Point Guard Of The Year In ACB
BARCELONA (2010 FIBA World Championship) - The honors keep rolling in for Spain international Ricky Rubio, who has been voted as the best point guard in the ACB this season.
The 19-year-old, who will play at the FIBA World Championship in Turkey this summer for the first time in his career, is the two-time reigning FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year.
In the voting for the top guard in the ACB, players, coaches, fans and the media all participated with Rubio finishing ahead of fellow Spain international Sergio Llull and Argentina’s Pablo Prigioni.
Both Llull and Prigioni play for Real Madrid.
France’s Nando De Colo of Eurocup winners Power Electronics Valencia was fourth in the voting.
Rubio, in his first season with Regal Barcelona, has won the Supercopa, the Copa del Rey and the Euroleague.
He and Barcelona will aim for a fourth title in the ACB play-offs.Comment
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Rubio won’t play in NBA before 2011; open to move
By PAUL LOGOTHETIS, AP Sports Writer
BARCELONA, Spain (AP)—Ricky Rubio(notes) is promising NBA fans they’ll get to see his razzle-dazzle, but not before the 2011-12 season—and not necessarily with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In an interview with the Associated Press, the highly rated prospect said he won’t leave Spanish club Barcelona before his NBA opt-out clause comes up after next season. The Timberwolves remain his team of choice, as long as they make improvements following a season where they finished 15-67, the second-worst record in the league.
If not, the Spaniard may want to make his NBA debut elsewhere.
“I’m open to everything,” Rubio said courtside from Barcelona’s Palau Blaugrana stadium. “You never know when all of this finishes if it will be with this team.”
Although Rubio expects improvements from the team that took him with the fifth choice in last year’s draft, he was ready to stand by a club that has called him the only “untouchable” player on its roster—even if he’s not even on that yet.
“It’s a young team that still needs to grow, that lacks experience now and even though this year it hasn’t achieved many victories the players are evolving, and that’s important,” said the 6-foot-2 point guard, who described himself as a player in the mold of Magic Johnson and Steve Nash.
“It’s a team that has confidence in me and that’s very important. They may have only won 15 games, but they are in a moment of development and we have to see how they evolve next year because it’s very important to be part of a team with vision. Let’s see next year if things gel.”
Rubio has had regular contact with Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn. Rubio, who averaged 6.6 points and 4.4 rebounds this season, spoke warmly about his relationship with the ‘Wolves and was in particular awe of his meeting coach Kurt Rambis, who watched Rubio in action here on May 27.
“They have the best possibility because they hold my rights, and they’ve shown me how much they want me and for that I have to be thankful toward them,” said the Barcelona native, whose baby-face went unshaven ahead of Friday’s afternoon practice.
The Timberwolves have said all along that they have no problem waiting for Rubio. Kahn actually sees it as an advantage to have the 19-year-old go through some seasoning in Europe to better prepare him for the NBA.
“The notion of him sort of wasting away over there is really far-fetched,” Kahn said in May. “It’s just the opposite. He’s actually getting better over there on somebody else’s dime and we’re the ones that I hope will be able to benefit from that.”
Although a star in Europe, Rubio remains relatively unknown in North America.
Apart from Internet highlights, most NBA fans’ only glimpse of Rubio would have come at the 2008 Olympics when he helped Spain to silver behind the United States.
“When I play (in the NBA) we’ll see how I fit in—I don’t think we can speculate about that now,” Rubio said. “There are people who think I will do well, there are people who think I’ll never suit that type of game and there are those without an opinion. I think I can fit in. But until my first game I can’t give any type of opinion.”
While Rubio has paid particular attention to his outside shooting while trying to improve his overall game, he’s also spent more time in the gym, bulking up as his smooth style of playing can make the transition to the NBA.
“A player who wants to make people happy with his play on the court, above all,” Rubio answered as when asked to describe his game. “A colorful, attractive, spectacular basketball player.”
Rubio nearly joined Minnesota last September before last-minute cold feet. He believes it was the right decision not too rush over at such a young age, and his subsequent move from DKV Joventut to Barcelona has seen him flourish as a player, too.
“This year was very important for me on an experience level. I had the pressure of having to win and that’s only something you can learn playing at a club like Barcelona, to know how to handle and play in those pressure moments,” said Rubio, who is on the cusp of closing his season with a Spanish league title to go with Euroleague and domestic cup triumphs.
Rubio speaks some English but will enroll in classes from next season. He has no hesitation in bombarding fellow Spanish players Pau Gasol(notes) and Rudy Fernandez(notes) with questions over life in the NBA and the United States, which he won’t judge until he gives it a shot by living there. He already paid one visit to Minneapolis last year.
“It was summer, with nice weather, a lot of lakes and it was nice but I was only there 3 or 4 hours,” he said. “I only visited the countryside, which was nice. I know they like their sports in Minnesota.”
Although Nash, New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul(notes) and Lamar Odom(notes) of the Lakers are the players he is looking forward to testing himself against, Rubio is also hoping Shaquille O’Neal(notes) hangs around awhile longer so he can drive down the lane at the Cleveland Cavaliers center, who is set to be a free agent.
“I always watched him on TV. He’s a very big player and a very fun player,” Rubio said. “But it wouldn’t be 1-on-1 because he’d probably kill me.”
But O’Neal and NBA fans will have to wait as Rubio could even stay on at Barcelona longer.
“We’ll see after next year,” Rubio said. “Now I have to take advantage of this great (Barcelona) team.”
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Ricky Rubio Question For ACB Diehards
Very simple question: Do Spanairds and other ACB fans have an idea over whether or not Ricky will be leaving Barca for the NBA after next season? There's a large amount of people who expect him to, but then also a good percentage of people who do not. What do the Euroleague die-hards think? Does anyone know Ricky's thoughts on this? Thanks.Comment
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